Noobster

Thank you all for the terrific feedback. I've been working on that toe side posture and have week 6 and 7 update videos: This was near perfect snow, and riding under the lights helps a lot. Riding with a selfie stick was totally new to me, as is setting up an action camera. Snow here was challenging. We had a rain event 3 days ago and then a deep freeze. Then they groomed it and blew snow on top for a nice crust. I really didn't want to push the angles much further for fear of digging the nose into the crust. I'm having so much fun. Switching to snowboarding is one of the best decisions ever. I feel like I just need some awesome sauce at this point.

Well, in spite of lacking the hard boot precision, you certainly ride very well! How much time have you put into soft boot riding? I'd be totally satisfied to reach your level of skill someday. As a new softie I lack the ability to make the comparison via personal experience, but on film, many hard booters appear a bit stilted or rigid, where the very good soft boot carvers seem to exhibit more fluidity and dynamism. Plenty of exceptions, I am sure! That said, I'm seriously tempted to gear up for hard booting next season.

Love the commitment to high visibility. Not easy to put that together. I like your riding style!

Week 5 update... I think I had an epiphany recently. Delving into video analysis, talking with my instructor, and putting a concept together about that back leg. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my thought is that the back leg is like a rudder. We want to swing it out (externally rotate) and drive the knee down towards the toe side turn. Then the leg swings inboard (internally rotates) transitioning into heel side. Practicing this, I think it began helping me begin to resemble the position I see the great riders using on their heel sides - and avoiding the "squatty potty." So, I've got an hour or two working on this refinement of my back leg, captured in the week 5 video. I plan to keep working on this. However, my instructor commented that I'm using too much upper body to tip into my toe sides, and not enough lower body. We worked on this and the improvement seemed to help me get on toe side edge earlier, higher in the turn. I also practiced trying to pull myself down to the board when transitioning from heel to toe. A retraction if I'm correct. I'd like to refine this action too. I'm having a ton of fun with learning to carve. The performance even riding an old board (Burton Cruiser) for me at least is already much greater than I accomplished after 30+ years of skiing. In summary, I plan to work on: using back leg more actively, tip to toe side with legs, less upper body lean and get on edge earlier. Also should note that I'm riding steeper slopes now than the video, which seems to make some things easier, but some things harder - or really just helps identify areas to improve. Angles were 33/24. I upped the rear binding to 27 yesterday. Edit: I think ideally, both legs should be rotating a bit (not just back leg) and knees remain about the same distance apart - no pinching (?).

Thanks for the feedback! I didn't post "week 4" because it seemed a bit dull. We should have video'd the steeper pitch. My instructor was having me do up-unweighted turns to change edges more quickly and looking for both sides of the edges in the transition from torsional twist. Fun to try but I'm not sold on up unweighting. The next days I tried down unweighting or push pull (?) and it felt easier to tip the board sooner. Although I'm still feeling like my heelsides resemble the "squatty potty." Something I think I'm noticing advanced softboot carvers use is a pronounced back leg knee bend, coming into the heelside and through the fall line, along with a lot of hip flexion as they reach down and forward. Like you said, pinching something between the ribs and hips. That, and a video by Malcolm Moore where he suggests loosening the front binding straps to encourage your back leg to do more, are some things I'd like to practice this week.

Heelside still feels like sitting down, bending at knees, rather than tipping over, legs more extended, hips flexed. Is this just part of being a beginner? I'm frustrated!

Was gonna comment to that end. I would totally nerd out on all things shoulder related like anatomy, strength, range of motion. Certainly consider getting a physical therapist's consultation too. I played competitive tennis for a few decades and my right shoulder got loose and I definitely felt it go out a few times. Now that I'm into calisthenics the problem re-appeared doing tougher skills. Consistent strength training has mitigated almost all the issue. As a new snowboarder (falling a lot but mostly low siding it) the upper body strength has been quite helpful.

Could I get some input please on a question about heelside carving? I've noticed that when I get flexed into my toe side, keep an open or forward stance, I can feel my right torso kinda stretching as I "angulate." It's been a useful queue, along with driving my knees. I'm actually at the point where I'm getting a hand to the snow on the toeside without as much reach as week 3's video. However, on the heelside, is there a comparable stretching feeling or queue? I've watched countless videos of softboot carving and do a lot of carpet riding with a mirror. It seems like the comparable heelside stretch is in the left hammie and glute as I'm flexing at the hips, and trying keep my butt kinda towards the back. The front leg extends but the back leg stays more flexed. Does that make sense? Also, when I've really pushed it on the heelside, flexing a lot at the hips and extending my front leg, reaching down to touch the snow, sometimes the board starts to get kinda jammed on edge and bounces around. Am I doing something wrong?

My instructor was out sick, so I had someone else take video after another week of practicing. Conditions were ideal. Since the first video at week 2, I've ridden nearly every night. I like riding under the lights for visibility and the crowds diminish quickly. Also, my instructor suggested trying an easier board, so I grabbed cheap Burton Cruzer and it seems like it helps a lot with confidence. In the video I see a few things to try and address. One, I'm bending at the hip TOO much on my toe sides, not moving my knees and hips into the turn (angulating instead of inclining?). Two, I'm hardly engaging my highbacks AT ALL on my heel sides, although that seems like my stronger side. Also, I was doing some knee pinching - not sure that's the best way to try and tighten the turns. It's not easy starting over in snowsports after achieving a degree of mastery but I think "future me" will be really happy if I keep putting in the work. I guess one overriding takeaway is that I need MUCH bigger edge angles to really carve. Does anyone have suggestions? Should I get on a steeper grade and do more carve traverses?

Thanks! Just the regular 158cm Blade. I actually spent a few evening sessions on a 151cm Burton Cruzer this week just to see if a beginner board might help my confidence. That plus some really good snow - tossed up end of day stuff and no ice - has really helped me get further into the turns. I'm sure you all can relate to the simple joy of looking back up the hill and admiring your skinny s-shaped tracks. Wow! But... last night it finally got icy and the little Cruzer was not enough board. And I'm feeling ready to get back on the Blade and hopefully slice the ice.

Yeah for sure I was stiff and riding really cautiously. I think I'm getting a little better. Each day seems like progress at this level. The video was filmed on the Double Chair run at Cannonsburg, Michigan. Thanks for your suggestions - I especially like your idea about pushing and lifting my toes!

Greetings from west Michigan. After 30 years of skiing, instructing and occasionally racing, I'm going full hog into snowboarding. My aim is to get into clean carving of greens, maybe blues, on a softboot setup. I can get to my local hill several times a week and prefer the last hour under the lights. And took my first lesson the day of this video. I realize this board is oriented mostly towards hardbooting, which is rad, but I'm not ready for that yet. My setup could be too much for me so I've also got a beginner board. On the video I'm riding my Nidecker Blade 158 with NX2 CX's. My boots are Burton Photons, size 9.5. I am totally guessing about where to set my angles. On this video I was using 30F/18R. Later that weekend I settled with 27F/15R after some carpet riding with the screws loose. I don't have any injuries but my knees can get irritated with too much torqueing so I'm liking a little bit of forgiveness in my boots for ankle ROM. One takeaway I have in mind from my video is that my highbacks were way too aggressive (cranked all the way forward) and I can't really tip over into the heelside. Does that make sense? Any suggestions on setup or exercises, or posture or whatever would be appreciated. -Ry